Disposable plates are usually designed with enough durability to be reused, but they are intended to be used only once and then discarded. Disposable plates are usually inexpensive to manufacture, sold in bulk quantities, and not typically fragile. In contrast, reusable plates are expensive to manufacture, sold in small sets (usually 4 or 8), and can be quite fragile. Because of these features, disposable plates are often utilized at buffets or picnics and the like, and for meals where a large number of people make it undesirable to use nondisposable or reusable plates. Typically, the disposable plates are stacked, one on top of another, for use at such events, so that a person may select a plate and then serve himself.
Disposable plates have a long history of use and have been manufactured from a number of distinct materials. Reusable plates made of materials such as glass or ceramic have different structural concerns than most disposable plates. For example, reusable plates are generally heavier and sturdier than their disposable counterparts, but may be susceptible to chipping or breaking.
Disposable plates evolved from durable or reusable plates made from a variety of materials. Pewter tableware was popular and affordable in the eighteenth century, although other materials were considered more desirable. Decorated glazed porcelain plates were also popular, whereas earthenware was seen as a disfavored material. Solid silverware was out of the price range of most people, however, silver-plated tableware made an affordable alternative. In the nineteenth century, a blue and white pattern was popular on plate designs from stoneware to bone china. Pyrex or borosilicate glass tableware with heat-resistant properties was introduced in the early 1900's. The perception of materials desirable for plates has changed since the beginning of the last century. The materials used in manufacturing and the selling price of a plate tend to help catagorize the plate as disposable or reusable.
Service style is the way that food is presented to guests or the type of service offered to guests. Service styles are as numerous as cultures and nations on earth. The styles of service can range from elegant and lavish to very informal. Disposable tableware has generally been best suited to informal service situations.
Plates and food containers heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar expected and obvious structural configurations. The myriad of plate designs encompassed by the crowded prior art has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. The structural concerns of durable and reusable plates are significantly different than those of disposable plates. Some of the most general requirements of disposable tableware are that they are economical, easy to hold and carry, and that the plates deter the spilling of food.
Disposable plates have significant material distinctions. Low-cost tableware of light construction are customarily economically manufactured on a large production basis. Lightweight paper plates are well-suited for dry foods. A pulp paper heavy-duty product creates a better quality of paper plate: it is good for serving hot foods; it is heat and cut resistant; and, it is economical and cost efficient for a large group. Laminated foam dinnerware provides a degree of cut-resistance and is a durable alternative. The lamination keeps food from soaking through the plate while the foam insulates against heat transfer. Non-laminated plates are less expensive yet practical for light menus. Plastic tableware is another alternative available in several designs and levels of quality. Heavy-duty plastic tableware is sold in a wide variety of colors and is both heat and cut resistant.
There are several problems associated with plates today. Issues with durable plates include a relatively high price, a need to clean them after use, and the difficulty in carrying or transporting reusable plates that were not designed for mobility. Even disposable plates have long had structural problems. These problems include a lack of significant rigidity, buckling or sagging from the weight of its contents, food sliding about the plate, food becoming co-mingled with other incompatible food, and the plate being difficult to hold or carry.
In the past, some disposable plates have had a tendency to be less rigid than similar dimensioned traditional reusable plates. The relative lack of structural rigidity is manifested by such plates bending, sagging, or folding between the portions of the plate being held, particularly when the plates are toting a heavy load. The items on the plate may settle into the middle of the plate, making the plate sag or buckle at its center. This exacerbates the problem as the sagging middle of the plate draws food from the perimeter down into the center. Eventually a large share of the weight of the items on the plate is gathered in the small area around its center. Food items being spread out and settled on the outer edges of a plate's food-contact area would enhance a loaded plate's rigidity, but food sometimes gravitates toward the center of the plate and this has a tendency to bow it down, further inducing food to slide to the middle of the plate.
There has always been a need for disposable plates that allow for the segregation of items placed on the plate. On low friction surfaces, such as the food-contact area of a smooth plastic plate, food may slide around the plate while the plate is being carried. Separation helps avoid blurring particular culinary distinctions. Examples include grease mixing with gravy and destroying their individual culinary flavors, or the sauce of baked beans being absorbed to soggy a hamburger bun. There is a need to hold the solid food items in the position that they were placed on the plate. To solve this, those skilled in the art have provided plate dividers to form isolated compartments on the face of the food-contact area of the plate. The dividers could aid in keeping different food elements separate, but could also induce a propensity for the disposable plate to fold along the line of the divider.
Carrying a disposable plate causes yet another inconvenience. Traditionally, a plate's food-contact area and rim form concentric circles of increasing size. The rim of the plate lacks a solid spot to grab and hold onto the entirety. A small circular rim encircling the food area of the plate leaves little room to grasp the plate while it is full. This drawback is especially relevant when one attempts to serve food onto the plate with one hand while holding the plate with the other hand. There is typically no handle or convenient method of holding a flimsy disposable plate, particularly when the plate is loaded with food. Additionally, placing a hand underneath the plate and carrying the plate like a tray or platter has the disadvantage of transferring the heat of potentially hot food to the fingers of those holding the plate in this fashion. Trays, platters, and even some plates, however, do have handles, but these handles tend to be manufactured of the same smooth substance that make up the balance of the plate and may therefore be difficult to hold.
The present invention is provided to solve these and other such problems with prior art devices.